Dalai Lama, iconic spiritual leader who has met popes and befriended presidents, turns 90

(OSV News) -- The United States gave a clear message of support for Tibet's efforts to protect its religious tradition at the Dalai Lama's 90th birthday celebration July 6. The Dalai Lama's long history as Tibet's leader-in-exile has resulted in multiple visits and forged friendships with world leaders, including St. John Paul II.

Ranking Indian ministers, Hollywood actor Richard Gere and prominent practitioners of Buddhism personally greeted their beloved spiritual leader of Tibet. He was surrounded by Buddhist monks and guests seated beside him in front of a mural of portraits of St. Teresa of Kolkata, Mahatma Gandhi, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and himself at the center.

The main celebration, attended by thousands, came days after Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, made a strong statement against outside interference in the selection of the next Dalai Lama. "The Dalai Lamas are believed to be manifestations of Avalokiteshvara or Chenrezig, the Bodhisattva of Compassion and the patron saint of Tibet," according to the 14th Dalai Lama's brief biography.

Birthday festivities and long-life prayer offerings for the Dalai Lama began June 30, prior to the July 6 birthday. On July 5, after a long-life prayer ceremony, he expressed hope of living beyond 130 years.

The July 6 celebration was at the Main Tibetan Temple in Dharamshala, his hometown since 1959 in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India. The smooth-faced, smiling Dalai Lama who was assisted while walking, by monks on either side, also received messages from Taiwan's president, Mongolia's prime minister, and video messages from three former U.S. presidents who called him "friend."

The U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state to India and Bhutan, Bethany Poulos Morrison, read a message from Secretary Marco Rubio extending best wishes and recognition of Tibet's traditions, independent of China.

"The U.S. remains firmly committed to promoting respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Tibetan people," the message stated. "We support efforts to preserve Tibetans' distinct linguistic, cultural, and religious heritage, including their ability to freely choose and venerate religious leaders without interference."

On July 2, the Dalai Lama read an announcement affirming what he had said in 2011 on the fate of the succession of his line of spiritual leaders when he dies. He stated that after taking into consideration the wishes of the other lamas, Buddhist leaders worldwide, world leaders and others, "the Gaden Phodrang Trust has sole authority to recognize the future reincarnation; no one else has any such authority to interfere in this matter."

The trust, or Office of the Dalai Lama, he said, is charged with upholding past tradition in its "search and recognition" of the next Dalai Lama, who is traditionally believed to be the reincarnation of the predecessor Dalai Lama. He has previously said his reincarnation would be located outside China.

The 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959, after a failed uprising against China following China's annexation in 1950 of the resource-rich country in its southwest region, citing historical claims to Tibet. He and thousands of exiled Tibetans settled in northern India where they were free to study, work and practice their faith. The Dalai Lama was the political leader of Tibet-in-exile until he relieved himself of those duties and the exiled government inaugurated a democratically elected leadership.

China's foreign ministry immediately replied to the July 2 announcement by reiterating China's position that it must approve the selection of the reincarnated Dalai Lama. China selected the faith tradition's Panchen Lama, or second in command, after the Dalai Lama's pick, a 6-year-old boy from Tibet, disappeared in 1995 and was never found.

Tenzin Tsundue, an India-born son of Tibetan exiles, is a writer and pro-Tibet activist. He told OSV News the succession statement was "an insistence on the truth" in the face of China's dominance -- especially economically, in procuring rare earth and other metals for use in "high-end technology" that is "exported around the world."

"This is our sovereign right and we want to keep it and maintain it, and he (the Dalai Lama) wants to hand this over to the future generation," said the 51-year-old activist, who has been jailed more than a dozen times for his international calls for a free Tibet, and also for entering Tibet. "Therefore the steps that he had taken (July 2) are perhaps the last of the sovereign rights the Tibetan people are holding on to, which is our culture and identity and the Dalai Lama that we all love."

During his birthday celebration, the Dalai Lama, who seeks autonomy for Tibet through peaceful means and refers to himself as "a simple Buddhist monk" in self-giving service of "all sentient beings," thanked his followers.

"When I reflect on my life, in retrospect, I see that I've not wasted my life at all. But having the title of Dalai Lama, I have no pride or arrogance. As … a monk, a follower of the Buddha, to serve people, the public, and to serve the teaching of the Buddha, these are my main practices," he said.

In 1986, Pope John Paul met the Dalai Lama during his trip to India. After the meeting in his third encounter with the exiled Buddhist leader, the pope said: "Without visiting Tibet, I go to Tibet through your presence here."

The Dalai Lama once remarked that he shared a bond with the pope because they both understood the harmful effects of totalitarian communism on religion.

Pope Benedict XVI met the Dalai Lama during a private audience in October 2006.

While Pope Francis never met the Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama wrote upon the pontiff's passing on April 21: "His Holiness Pope Francis dedicated himself to the service of others ... consistently revealing by his own actions how to live a simple, but meaningful life. The best tribute we can pay to him is to be a warm-hearted person, serving others wherever and in whatever way we can."